


From a Planet Far Away

by exocinematicuniverse



Series: Dreamers [2]
Category: EXO (Band), NCT (Band), SuperM (Korea Band)
Genre: Alien Baekhyun, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Engineer Mark, Flashback Sequence, Gen, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), and they were ROOMMATES, oh my god they were roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:14:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23677471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exocinematicuniverse/pseuds/exocinematicuniverse
Summary: Mark is a convenient friend to make on short notice.--Bonus scene for "We're Not Just Dreamers (We're The Kind That Comprehend)" and is best read after chapter 8.
Series: Dreamers [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1704955
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	From a Planet Far Away

**Author's Note:**

> "I am on the run and go"

Baekhyun was pretty sure he’d fucked up the moment that the lights went out in the tiny art gallery just off Kai’s college campus. He knew for a fact that something was seriously wrong the moment he woke up the next morning and saw two sleek black cars parked in the alley by his apartment complex. He’d experienced this before, so he was ready to experience it again. In only a few minutes he managed to pack a small bag with clothes and cash, ditch his phone, throw on a simple disguise, and walk coolly out a side door. 

Of course running from the Red Force wasn’t quite that easy. He zig-zagged around town for three solid hours before he was sure he’d lost everyone tailing him. The Red Force had managed to get a hold of so many different humans in recent years, he wasn’t entirely sure what to look for anymore. He knew for certain that this country’s government had been infiltrated, and thankfully their dress code was easy to spot anywhere. 

Which was exactly why he knew to bury himself in a crowd the moment three people in black suits walked with purpose into the open air market a block away from him. He smoothly swiped a jacket from a nearby stall and exchanged his baseball cap for a bucket hat, silently apologizing to the vendors and making a mental note to come back and compensate them for what he stole. After tucking his hair all the way into his hat, he found a quiet alleyway in which to stash his backpack, and slid into a seat at a food counter. Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, a voice exclaimed something next to him.

“Oh hey!”

He nearly fell off his stool as he spun to face the person sitting next to him. A young man with brassy blond hair and grown-out roots, wide brown eyes, and a slight build stared back at him. Baekhyun couldn’t for the life of him place where he’d seen the man before, but he seemed incredibly familiar.

“Do I know you?” Baekhyun asked quietly.

“Oh, I don’t know if I gave you my name last time. Sorry! I’m Mark. We talked for like twenty minutes at the gallery walk yesterday.” The memories of the previous day rocketed back to Baekhyun; a friend of one of Kai’s friends had organized an incredible exhibit on computer game designs from other students at the university, and Baekhyun couldn’t say no to that. He and Mark, not knowing most of the other people who were present, naturally gravitated towards each other and found themselves in a long discussion about MMORPGs. About ten minutes after they went their separate ways, Baekhyun got excited about a design concept he and Kai were studying and he slipped up with his powers. Again. 

He was so dreadfully bad at controlling them around incandescent bulbs. His powers naturally fluctuated with his mood, and he really was better about controlling them than he used to be! Earth’s electronic lighting systems were just so  _ touchy _ that he was essentially rocketed back to square one the moment he landed in this era. Sure the 20th Century had been a challenge, but there was seemingly no escape from electronic lighting in the 21st, and Baekhyun was not about to move out to some rural farming town just so he could avoid present-day technology. 

No one had taught him or his friends how to use their gifts from the Tree of Life, and some were more in tune with them than others. Baekhyun...didn’t have the greatest discipline when it came to his powers, to say the least. He had plenty of discipline in most other aspects of his life, but he truly lacked in the areas of 1) the gift of light and 2) the ability to resist the urge to commit incredible acts of tomfoolery. These two great weaknesses often landed him in significant amounts of trouble during his time on Earth.

Like the present moment.

“Right!” Baekhyun exclaimed before remembering why he needed to remain quiet. “Hey I need you to do me a huge favor right now. Is there a young white woman in a suit anywhere in the crowd behind me?”

Mark unquestioningly looked around behind Baekhyun and shook his head.

“No? Okay, how about a broad and muscley guy with slicked back hair and  _ horrible _ frowning wrinkles?” 

Mark squinted at the crowd and nodded.

“Shit,” Baekhyun said under his breath. “Okay, one more person: is there a sharply-dressed and mean-looking older woman with really short grey hair?”

Mark frowned as he looked into the marketplace again and shook his head one more time. 

“Cool,” Baekhyun said with a heavy sigh. “Let’s uh...talk. Let me know when that one guy leaves. Or if he comes over here.” He focused his gaze down at the menu on the countertop. “What would you recommend here?”

“Bro, you in trouble or something?” Mark asked a little bit quieter than usual.

“Or something,” Baekhyun breathed. It took every ounce of willpower to not bounce his leg or bite his nails right then and there.  _ Pretend you’re a local, _ he could practically hear Suho’s voice say in the back of his mind. _ Blend in because they expect you to stand out. _

Mark frowned in silence for a moment before saying, “Gyoza.”

Baekhyun nodded and ordered six dumplings from the cook. It was only after he turned to look at Mark again that he realized maybe he’d done something strange. 

“You speak Japanese?” Mark asked. “That’s so cool. You from Japan?”

Baekhyun laughed and shook his head as he answered, “No, I’ve just been there several times. Why? Don’t I look Korean?” 

“Yeah,” Mark replied, “but you don’t sound Korean.”

Baekhyun pouted.

“Not like that’s a bad thing!” Mark scrambled to recover. “You’ve got a cool accent. I’ve never heard it before. It’s a little old-timey, but also super young. I don’t know how to describe it. Your articulation’s like...theatrical or something.”

“Oh, so I speak clearly?” Baekhyun teased. “You sound a little funny, too. Just a little, though.” 

“I grew up in Canada,” Mark said with a shrug. A small plate absolutely loaded with dumplings was placed in front of him, and he called out a quick, “Thanks!” before easily scarfing down a third of them in record time.

“Dude,” Mark continued, “this place makes them like a restaurant I lived by back in Seoul. They’re absolutely perfect. You’ll love them.”

Baekhyun scanned the crowd behind Mark as he dipped his head down to take another bite. The silver-haired woman he’d worried about earlier paced around the far end of the market, thankfully with her back to them. The young woman emerged from an alley and approached the other agent, shaking her head “no.” Baekhyun let out a sigh of relief and nearly jumped as a plate of steaming dumplings were set down in front of him. 

Mark was right. Those things were delicious. Still Baekhyun ate slowly in an attempt to buy as much time as possible. 

“Yo so like, I hope this isn’t too personal, but what kind of trouble are you in?” Mark asked with a hand in front of his mouth. “Like do you owe someone money? Are the cops after you? Is it the mafia?”

Baekhyun blinked hard and stared at his companion. Maybe Mark’s imagination would let him suspend his disbelief long enough for Baekhyun to get out the truth. He considered his options for a moment and chose his words carefully as he responded.

“It’s sort of like the mafia...with government ties.”

Mark took a long drink of water before casting a casual glance over Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“With the way that guy looks,” Mark said quietly, “I think I might believe you. He looks straight out of  _ Mission: Impossible _ . That’s crazy shit, though. Do you know why they’re after you?”

Baekhyun shoved an entire dumpling in his mouth and contemplated his next move. Mark watched him and waited patiently. Baekhyun sighed heavily, turned to look him dead in the eye, and with a straight face said, “I’m an alien.”

Mark frowned and said, “You’re what?”

Baekhyun repeated in rough English, “ _ I’m alien. _ ”

Mark stared at his dumplings for a moment before looking back up at him and asking, “Like you’re not from here or…?”

“Like,” Baekhyun said, “I’m from…” He pointed at the sky.

Mark giggled a bit and said, “It’s okay, man, you don’t have to tell me the truth if you don’t want to.” 

So much for suspension of disbelief. At least he was being nice about it. Baekhyun glanced at the marketplace and squirmed a bit in his seat as he realized the two women had started moving in the direction of the food counter and were looking into each shop as they walked through the market. He ducked his head down again and shoved another dumpling in his mouth. Maybe it was time to plan an escape. 

“Hey, not to worry you,” Mark said as casually as he could manage, “but I think that guy’s getting closer. He’s not looking at us yet. What do you wanna do?” 

Baekhyun calmly pulled an appropriate amount of cash out of his pocket and placed it on the counter. 

“Gonna have to hope this works,” Baekhyun muttered, locking his eyes on the other two agents. “Tell me when he definitely can’t see us.”

Mark hummed for a moment before saying, “Okay, you’re probably good--”

Baekhyun focused on the street lights at the far end of the market, and he let his nerves take over his mind for just a moment. The far end of the street was instantly plunged into darkness. Well, more like dim evening light. People still audibly reacted to the event.

“Oh wait,” Mark said with a frown, “he’s leaving. Going past us.”

Baekhyun watched as the three agents made a beeline for the dark end of the marketplace and let out a relieved sigh. He turned back to his dumplings and quickly got to work finishing them. Mark looked in the direction of the power outage and gasped.

“Yo, did that happen when I wasn’t looking?”

Baekhyun hummed an affirmative.

“Waid,” Mark added, squinting at the crowd, “aren’t those all the people you described…?” He turned to look at Baekhyun with wide eyes and said, “That was a lucky break.”

Baekhyun nodded wordlessly and shoved his last dumpling in his mouth and passed his money to the stall attendant with a slight bow and a gentle, “ _ Sumimasenga...kyuuni ikanakarenai kedo, hontou ni gochisousama deshita. _ ” (A/N: essentially, “Pardon me...even though I have to go suddenly now, I really appreciate your hard work.”) 

The attendant nodded and replied with an easy, “ _ Hai, gouchisousama deshita. _ ” (A/N: essentially, “Thank you for noticing and appreciating it.”)

Baekhyun left with a quick, “ _ Arigatou gozaimashita _ .” 

Mark mirrored him and added a quick, “Great as always, thank you!” before sticking his last dumpling in his mouth and taking off after Baekhyun, who was already walking back to the nearby alley to retrieve his backpack. 

“Dude,” Mark said through his last bite, “I’ve never been able to escape that guy so fast. Usually I get caught in a loop of ‘thanks for the food’ and ‘oh thanks for noticing, thanks for visiting,’ ‘thanks for being so good at it’ and such for like a whole minute.”

“Very Japanese,” Baekhyun muttered through a grin. He pulled his bag out from underneath a crate and turned to face his companion. “You might get stuck in it with me instead, though. Thank you for your help. I really needed it.” 

“No problem, dude. Do you need a ride anywhere?”

“Yeah, I could use one to…” Baekhyun suddenly realized he had nowhere to go. He frowned and said, “Actually, let’s just get to your ride first. Surely I’ll think of someplace to go by the time we get there.”

He did not, in fact, figure anything out by the time he arrived at the car. The only major connection he had in the city...no, the only person who knew his circumstances in the  _ country _ was Kai, and the last thing he wanted to do was drag him into this mess. It would be for the best if only one member of their...family, for lack of a better word, got detected at a time. Baekhyun sat back in the car’s leather seat and thought hard. Maybe he could go out to the edge of the city and just hitchhike until he found a friendly-looking rural farming town to settle in for a couple months. Just because he didn’t prefer living out in the countryside didn’t mean he couldn’t do it if he absolutely had to. Maybe he could get some school to hire him as a Japanese teacher...but he’d need official documents for that, and he had absolutely no forgery skills--

“Do you wanna just go back to my place?”

Baekhyun snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Mark’s voice. He turned to face his companion and asked, “Did you just offer--?”

“Yeah, I have a whole house to myself right now,” Mark said. “Well, actually it’s me and my robots, but they shouldn’t bother you too much. Unless you’re scared of robots or something.”

“I’m not...wait, what? Are some people scared of robots?”

“I don’t know, maybe you vibed with that whole technology is scary crowd,” Mark said with a shrug. “Either way, they’re just little guys that roam around sometimes. I have a spare bedroom if you’d like. Though if you’re worried about people peeking in windows, I have a whole basement that’s just got some stuff lying around in it and we could totally just move it around until it’s more cozy.”

“Dude…” Baekhyun replied. “I’d owe you big time. And I wouldn’t be able to pay rent or anything. I’ve got like 350,000  ₩ total, right now. They’ve got the alias I was using at my old complex, so I can’t withdraw money, and--”

“It’s not a problem! Seriously, bro, I can have you over for like a month, yeah? And I can help find you a job online, so if you need to stick around longer we can get you some income.”

“I can’t prove I’m a real person,” Baekhyun blurted out. “I don’t have any federal identification.”

“I can fix that,” Mark replied easily. 

Baekhyun opened his mouth but couldn’t find any words. 

“Like, I can forge documents for you,” Mark clarified. He looked so earnest. Baekhyun couldn’t believe his luck.

“Seriously?” Baekhyun breathed.

“Yeah,” Mark laughed nervously. “I work in IT at a big company in the city, and not to toot my own horn, but I’m pretty great with computers.” 

“Okay. Okay, yes. Let’s do this.” Baekhyun swore under his breath in his native tongue and added, “I owe you my damn life.” 

Mark started the car, a massive grin plastered across his face, turned to Baekhyun and said, “Well then, let’s get you home, roommate!” 

* * *

It admittedly only took one whole day before Mark realized there was more to Baekhyun than met the eye. On the second night of his stay, Baekhyun stood in the kitchen, doctoring up some instant noodles with some simple stir fry for the two of them. Stood might have been the wrong word for it, though. He’d found an old music player that couldn’t connect to the internet at the bottom of his bag and immediately charged it up, and was involuntarily dancing to the music. Mark had strolled through the room in the early stages of meal prep to see Baekhyun with earbuds in, swaying subtly and cutting vegetables in time with whatever he was listening to. 

As the smell of fresh-cooked food filled the house, Mark had a harder time focusing on the task of forging Baekhyun’s birth certificate, and decided to just save the file and sit in the kitchen for a while. He emerged from his room, and the sound of Baekhyun quietly singing some smooth R&B song to himself greeted him. Seemed like the guy had already made himself at home. 

When Mark arrived in the kitchen, however, he stopped in his tracks and stared at the scene laid out before him. Baekhyun swayed in the middle of the kitchen, eyes closed, combining the stir fry with the cooked noodles, half of the dishes already cleaned and set out to dry. That was the normal part. What confused Mark was the sight of every light fixture in the room slowly dimming and brightening in time with whatever Baekhyun was singing. It was like he had his own private light show for the low-key performance he was putting on. 

Baekhyun finally opened his eyes again to grab the two bowls and place them at the small kitchen table, and the lights continued dimming, brightening, and flashing, just to a lesser degree. They stopped altogether when he made eye contact with Mark in the doorway. 

The lights turned off suddenly and Baekhyun let out curses in a language Mark couldn’t quite place. 

“Sorry,” Baekhyun whined in a pitiful voice somewhere in the dark room.

“What was that, bud?”

“Where do you keep your light bulbs? I can fix this real quick--”

“Wait wait wait, don’t worry about getting new light bulbs until after you explain what just happened.” 

Baekhyun sighed and quietly said, “You remember how I said I was an alien?”

“Yeah?” Mark said. Baekhyun was suddenly illuminated again by a hovering orb of light in his upturned palm. An embarrassing noise escaped Mark, but he kind of didn’t care because his new roommate just did some kind of magic right in front of him.

“Is this real life?” He asked quietly as he slowly lowered himself into a seat at the table. Baekhyun waved his hand over the table and the one glowing orb split into several dancing lights, illuminating their meal just as well as a typical light fixture. A laugh slipped out of Mark as he watched them gently bounce up and down as if moved by a breeze above them.

“So you weren’t, like, making a joke to avoid telling the truth?” Mark asked. 

“Nope. I’m an actual alien. From another planet.” 

“Legit?” Mark’s voice was a little squeakier on its way out than it was in his head. 

“Yeah.”

Mark nodded soberly and took a bite of his food.

“You have a fine grasp of Earth cuisine. Light bulbs can wait. Let’s eat while this is hot.”

Baekhyun sat down across the table from him and tentatively asked, “So you’re cool with that? Me being an alien?”

“If you keep cooking this well,” Mark said after swallowing a large mouthful of food, “and we stick to the plan we made yesterday, you can stay as long as you like.”

The orbs above them brightened slightly as Baekhyun grinned. Mark was pretty sure that he wouldn’t come to regret harboring this particular fugitive. And if he did? Well, that was a problem for future-him. 

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: I don't speak Japanese, but I asked a friend who DOES speak it pretty well, so I hope I don't step on anyone's toes with those lines
> 
> want to keep up with me or chat on social media? I'm on tumblr at exocinematicuniverse


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